Star Gate

Inside the ball of light.

Jiang Chen manipulated the formation into becoming weapon after weapon, bringing them against the Silver Armors. “I am a descendant of the Jiangs and now the division leader of the Eight Division in the Skystar Army. Thou are guilty of insubordination and disregard of military regulation. It looks like you have indeed turned traitor!”

“A descendant of the commander-in-chief would not collude with plant spirits to seize the mine,” dismissed the strongest Silver Armor. “You are the one who has turned traitor. We do not recognize your position of division leader!”

The soldier roared and swept out with his spear, forcing a plant spirit back. “All of you are traitors! New Martial will never fall! When it returns, you and those behind you will all die with dishonor and ignominy!”

Boom!

The battle abruptly turned fierce. Jiang Chen wavered and looked back at Qi Pingjiang. “Unseal me fully! Are you going to restrict me even now?”

Qi Pingjiang looked at Zhao Tianyang; the latter inclined his head. Two shadows emerged from Jiang Chen’s body and vanished. The old Skystar King’s presence billowed and strengthened the formation by thirty percent!

Bam!

A humanoid shadow gathered from the military formation and pounced on the Silver Armors!

“Assemble!” howled the Gold Armor close at hand.

Bam!

Thousands of Black Armors instantly shifted into another formation. A strong current of energy flowed from it and barreled through large sums of Black Armaturas in a fatal surge. Jiang Chen’s eyes widened and he glanced at the Gold Armor.

This formation was a bit different from before. It wasn’t listed in the information that they possessed. Had this vice commander modified the formation?

“I said that I only want a bit of energy. Must you be like this?!” snarled the bramble rose.

“No traitors are allowed to obtain energy!” the Gold Armor declared coldly.

“Traitor?” sneered the bramble rose with hints of derision. “I’d repeat the same words to you! You’re the greatest traitor!”

“We will not be swayed no matter what you say!” the Gold Armor retorted frostily. “Protecting the mine is our duty. Give up the thought, Rose! You will not seize the mine so long as we stand!”

“You bastard!” The bramble rose flew into a rage. Immense strength unfurled in all directions. “The rest of you guys are idiots! Sun Xin is the biggest traitor! You put your lives on the line for him—your commander would die of anger if he was still alive! How did New Martial produce such idiotic troop leaders such as you guys!”

The bramble rose was cursing up a storm at the Silver Armors. They were quite strong in their own right and skilled at military formations. With their physical bodies still existing, their cultivation level might be a bit weaker than the plant spirits, but humans were the stronger race. Not only were their joint efforts obstructing the four plant spirits, but even Jiang Chen’s formation couldn’t fully corral them. He could only confine their movement.

The Gold Armor vice commander—Sun Xin—sighed. “Stop trying to trick them, Rose. These are all my brothers of many years through life and death. We are soldiers and protecting the mine is our responsibility that we must fulfill even at the cost of our lives. We trust each other no matter what you say!”

“You disgust me!” The bramble rose disappeared. A shower of sharp thorns rained down on the Gold Armor. “You are so hypocritical even now! Let me tell you something, so long as I live, none of these people will enter this land! They’ve tried over the years, but I killed them all. I was a slave for humanity in New Martial. I am no longer willing to be so in the new era! I am a Saint now! In this age, who can withstand me so long as the world is stable?”

BOOM!

Another loud collision rang out.

“Stubborn and obstinate, you… deserve death!” sighed the Gold Armor. A long blade manifested and swung down!

The void broke and the formation shook. Two Saint-level experts raged through the ruins. Their great daos manifested and core origin shook.

……

Moments later.

Li Hao’s group arrived. The ball of light enveloped the area, sealing off the premises. This was the formation of the plant spirits inside the city. Li Hao swept his eyes over the light, but was unable to see through it.

“This is the Lock Formation of the Four Directions,” identified the Black Armor. “It is primarily used for defense, to prevent foes from entering the city to threaten the citizens. Plant spirits are responsible for constructing and activating it. Thus, plant spirits are sometimes hailed as guardian plant spirits.”

“Can it be broken?” asked Li Hao.

“It can! But that might not be a good move.” The Black Armor nodded. “Once it breaks, both sides will discover our invasion. It’s best to slip in undetected…” He looked at the formation. “There are ways to infiltrate the formation.”

“Infiltrate it?” Li Hao glanced at him. “This formation is airtight, literally. I’ve studied it, there are almost no cracks to be found…”

“That you can’t does not mean I can’t.”

“That’s right, martial uncle surely has a way!” Director General Wang hastily agreed. “The Lock Formation of the Four Directions is the heritage formation of martial uncle’s family. No one knows how to slip inside, but martial uncle will know!”

Li Hao blinked. A heritage formation?

The Black Armor ignored these words and said calmly, “That is incorrect, my grandfather would not teach me this. It was the Evenround principal who identified it through research. Grandfather would not purposefully leave such a loophole behind for others to take advantage of, not even for family! Your words insult him!”

Director General Wang found himself in incredibly awkward straits. I was just offering some flattery, who would’ve thought it’d have the opposite effect? Since it was the principal who figured it out… Fine then, there’s nothing I can say about that.

The Black Armor carefully investigated the formation. “We are at the primary battleground. The disturbance would be too great if we took action here. Go to a side flank. Also, I recommend that we go to the depths of the mine first, not mire ourselves with these guys. There might be greater trouble in the depths of the mine!”

He walked as he spoke, heading in a particular direction. “There are usually companion treasures to be found in the core of the mine. Some are very valuable! The shadow we detected before might be among them. I don’t know how long it’s been in there, but it must be strong!

“There should be treasures at the heart of the mine. The shadow might be staying there for the treasure, or possibly for something else. Regardless, we should enter the mine as soon as possible as well. All mines have self-detonation mechanisms located at their core.”

Li Hao nodded continuously with grave solemnity. “Then do you think… is that guy hiding there so he can detonate the mine at a critical moment and start the second awakening?”

“That’s hard to say.” The Black Armor couldn’t come to an answer and seemed to laugh. “It’s alright, a mine isn’t so easily detonated just because someone wishes it so! The Human King assured his rise through detonating mines, so he arranged for certain countermeasures to prevent enemies from using the same methods against humanity or human cities. So long as the enemy doesn’t detonate the mine the moment they see us, they’ll have no hope to do so otherwise!”

Countermeasures?

Li Hao was puzzled, but didn’t ask further. “Then is there anything I can do later?”

“Of course! You’re the one who started all this, of course you need to do something. Wang Ye says that you once entered the secondary dimension. Our opponent may be a difficult character, so even I cannot guarantee killing them!

“For you… you should enter the secondary dimension and suddenly appear at a crucial moment to deliver a fatal blow. Your aura will do. Incorporate the seven elements into it and deploy it through Stellaris. It will have a wondrous effect at a critical time!”

Li Hao blinked. “I can enter it, but it’s difficult to find my way out of it.”

“I know,” nodded the Black Armor. “I hear that it was your master who pulled you out. Therefore, send word for your master to arrive as quickly as possible. He can pull you out when needed.”

Li Hao’s expression shifted slightly. He didn’t mind taking risks himself, but hadn’t let his teacher join them this time as the enemy was too strong. But now, the Black Armor wanted him to summon his teacher!

“Are those of your age unwilling to fight for yourselves?” asked the Black Armor. “Do you hope for New Martial citizens to kill New Martial citizens for you, and then seize the benefits for you?”

“I paid the price…” Li Hao protested.

“Yes, but it’s not enough. I said before that if it’s just those two, I wouldn’t need any other reinforcement. But with an existence outside of our predetermined parameters, this is an additional complication.

“You are unable to emerge at the needed moment, so we have to have your master join us. He will instantaneously yank you out at the right timing. To powerhouses, an unexpected factor at a critical moment might result in securing the life of their opponent! I am unable to guarantee success of our operation otherwise.”

The Black Armor turned to look at Li Hao. “We still have some time, but not that much. Once fighting outside ends and there are no large-scale casualties, we will not be able to fish in troubled waters anymore. The plant spirits we killed will be exposed, and they will only ally together against us when they see us. We are the unexpected factor. Eliminating us first is the New Martial consensus!

“Do not think of allying with one side to eliminate the other, that will be impossible! As one of New Martial, all humans and monster spirits know this logic—kill the third party first! They are the uncontrollable element. Only after we are eradicated will they fight each other to the death. You must believe the influence of the Human King on that era. If not, you can try otherwise to your detriment!”

“That is indeed the logic, Li Hao.” Director General Wang nodded as well. “If you want to collect easy pickings in terms of allying with one side against the other… you will not succeed.”

Even the redwood and little jujube tree concurred.

Indeed, they would not succeed that way. There were too many examples like that from New Martial. The Human King always killed the third party first, no matter how strong, terrible, or evil his enemy was. Whenever a third party appeared to benefit, the Human King would choose to kill them first, even if it gave an advantage to the enemy…

After a while, all of humanity and New Martial understood one point. The battlefield must be cleared first before battle began. If a third party appeared halfway, the combatants would first coordinate to eliminate the third party. Cooperation with the suddenly appearing force was never an option.

All of the combatants on this battlefield were once part of the New Martial system. They would share this common understanding. Hence, as soon as Li Hao’s group stepped into view, the bramble rose and vice commander would immediately choose to kill them first. Granted, the caveat had to be that both sides had betrayed New Martial. Otherwise, the vice commander would not choose to go on the offensive since the Black Armor and Director General Wang were both present.

etvolare’s Thoughts

So Yuan Shuo’s getting pulled in to be a glorified Airtag?